A new Life
by Virginia Michelle
Summary: This is my first ever fanfic, and is based off of a portion of my life and a dream I had. It's a pairing of Ranger, aka Carlos, and my OC, Virginia. [FYI, I updated part of the last chapter, and it's not showing for me, lets hope it does for you!]
1. Family Ties

-- **O N E** -- **Family Ties** --

**Author Notes:** I do not own any main character other than Virginia Hogan. This story is based off of both a real life situation of mine, and a dream that I had. I hope you all enjoy it!!

Michelle

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After two years of searching for him, this was the last place I hoped he would be. All of the dreams and plans I had been clinging to for so long, about him and I finally having a good relationship, will never be more than that. A cold, deep sadness hit me, seeming to want nothing more than to match the harsh wind blowing around me. 

My name is Virginia Hogan, and for two years, I have held tight to the hope of finding my bilogical grandfather, John Hogan, and now I'm staring down at his granite headstone. Inscribed on the headstone are the words _Husband & Father_. No mention of him having been Grandfather.

Before I could help it, a lone tear slid down my cheek.

"He knew his first son had a daughter. He knew about me. How could he deny me like that?" I spoke outloud to the empty graveyard.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, that I didn't see a man walk up and stand 3 feet away from me. It wasn't until he let out a small sigh that I realized he was there. My mind raced into action, wondering how a man that big could sneak up on me. He was at least a foot taller than me, had a skull tattoo on his forehead, and had muscles on top of his muscles. In all honesty, he looked like an army goon who spent to much time working out. But who knows. Maybe he's just like that naturally.

I guess he saw my reaction, because a smile played softly across his face.

"I get that look often," he said, "My name is Cal. Did you know him?" he asked while nodding towards my grandfathers headstone.

"I'm Virginia, and no, I really didn't. Believe it or not, he's my grandfather, even though it seems like he denied me til the end." I replied.

"Yea, sounds like him. He wasn't very happy when he found out about you." Cal said, looking sidways at me.

I gave a small nod and sigh while still looking at his headstone, acknowledging the fact that I knew he wasn't fond of my Cuban background. It took me a second to realize what he had said. When it dawned on me that Cal knew him, my head snapped up and looked at him, surprise written on my face.

_So that is why he's standing here_, I thought.

Cal gave a small chuckle, and said, "Yea, I knew him, he was my father."

I just stood there for a few seconds, studying him once more. This time I caught glimpses of the man that I met two years ago in his eyes and face. It wasn't a major resemblance, but it was there.

"Wow, I uh, I didn't know," I stammered, still in a state of surprise and shock.

Cal laughed again, "Why would you? When my father came back, he said he refused to give you any information on his life in hopes of shoving you away again," he said, "He had a natural gift of being an ass at times."

"Well, from what I could tell from the brief meeting with him, it seemed he had that trait down pat," I said, laughing a little at the end, "Are you busy at all today? I'm in town for a little longer, and was thinking maybe we could go get some coffee or something and get to know eachother, since you're my uncle and all."

"I've got a little bit of work to do, but it shouldn't take very long. If you want, I could meet you at a place called Shorty's. It isn't exactly a coffee joint, but you could order up a cup," he replied, "I could meet you there in half an hour," he said as he raised his eyebrows in question.

"Sure, it's uh, a little chilly, so I'm gonna head back to my hotel and grab something a little warmer," I said, "I'll meet you in half an hour, I'll get directions off of my computer," I added seeing that he was probably about to ask if I needed them.

"Alright, see you later then," he replied and started to walk away, then it seemed like a thought hit him, and he turned around, "Oh, and by the way, if you get there before me, sit next to the bar and tell them that Cal said to watch over you. Don't worry, it's just a precaution." he added when he saw the look on my face. Cal smiled again, showing a resemblance to my own father, and walked back to a black SUV.

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	2. Let me get your Info

-- **T W O** -- **Let me get your Info** --

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During the twenty minute drive back to my hotel, I had plenty of time to think things through, and to sing at the top of my lungs to my Shakira CD. I figured that I could sneak in a little dork time for myself before going out to lunch. 

I pulled up to the valet booth at my hotel & told the guy to just hold they keys in his hand cause I'd be back down in two minutes, he shrugged and said whatever, and I just rolled my eyes and walked away. As soon as I stepped into the elevator and pushed the 4th floor button, my cell phone began vibrating in my pocket.

"Shit!" I said when it started, having forgotten that my mother was going to call me today. I looked at the screen, and sure enough, it was her.

"Hey mom, whats the scoop?" I asked her. Before I left, I asked her to see if my job was really firing me for taking this vacation. I am not sure which answer I was hoping to hear.

"Hey Ginny. I called your boss yesterday afternoon, and asked if he really was going to fire you, and all he had to say is, 'Did she really take that stupid trip?' and I said yes, and he said, 'Well, there is your answer. She's fired.' He sounded like an ass," my mother said, "I'm sorry you lost your job hun. Do you want me to save job articals for you to look at when you get home?"

"Eh... nah. I might just stay here a little bit longer since I have no job. And don't worry about that. I'm not so sure that working as a sales rep. was for me." I actually knew for sure that the job wasn't for me. I didn't like calling people up and trying to get them to buy an expensive product that I myself wouldn't even buy. No matter how good it was.

"Okay, well, how long are you planning to stay then? Do you want me to check up on Akiva for you? Make sure she has food, water & fresh litter?" She almost sounded to eager to do this. If I didn't love my cat Akiva as much as I do, I'd pass her over into to my mom's care.

"Yea, sure. That would be great. And I'm not exactly sure how much longer I'll be here. It turns out that my grandfather died not to long ago, and I met up with an Uncle of mine. His name is Cal. Do you know him?" I asked, hoping she would know a little bit more about him.

"I met him briefly once, real big guy, right?" I just gave her an 'uh-huh' cause I knew she wanted to keep talking. "Yes, well, like I said, I met him briefly. Your father said he did some sort of security business. Apparently, he is the only other son your grandfather had. Oh, Ginny I've got to go, company just stopped by. I'll give you a call some other time, okay?"

Sure, company, more like her soap opera came on. I looked at my watch, yep. Soap Opera time.

"Yea, okay. I'm going out to lunch with Cal today. So I've got to get going to. I love you, bye!"

"Love you too Ginny!" _click._ After her sudden departure, I realized that nothing can get between a woman and her soap operas, not even her only daughter.

I did a quick inventory of the clothes I had with me, and realized that I would have to go shopping or something if I was going to stay longer. Poor me. Shopping. I pulled off the thin sweater I was wearing and pulled on a thicker jacket, grabbed my purse and headed out. I still had 10 minutes to get to this Shorty's place. I'd stop by the front desk for directions, I didn't quite think I had time do address searching the net.

I rode the elevator to the lobby, and walked to the desk. The woman behind the desk was in the middle of a phone call, and something told me it wasn't a business call. It had personal written all over it, and 'Pookie and baby' gave her away. I cleared my throat to get her attention, and when she looked at me, I felt my eyebrow shoot up in impatience. She asked 'Pookie' to wait on hold for a bit, and decided to help me.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to get to Shorty's from here, would you?" I asked her, hoping that she would give me the directions right away so I wouldn't have to wait around.

"I do, yes. Let me write them down for you, just one second." Not even a full minute later I had the directions clutched in my hand, and was out the door.

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	3. Virginia News

-- **T H R E E** -- **Virginia News at Shorty's** --

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When I got to Shorty's, I wasn't sure what I was expecting it to look like, but I'm not sure if this was it. I mean, it wasn't _horrible_ but it wasn't great in my mind either. But the moment I walked in, the delicious smell of the pizza and the warmth this place had won me over. I didn't even have to eat here and I was hooked. I pulled myself back down to earth, and looked around for Cal. He wasn't hard to spot in here, and was sitting in a booth in the far back. Along with him was a guy who matched Cal in size, if not a little bigger.

_Holy crap, that guy is like, a human tank,_ was the first thought that came to my mind about the guy Cal was with. I walked over to where they were sitting, deep in 'man talk' and not noticing me.

"Hey Cal!" I said to break up the skull session they were having, "Sorry if I'm a little late, I got a call from my mother." I suddenly felt a little childish after having announced that last bit.

"Hey kiddo, no problem. Tank & I were just wrapping up the ends of today's job. Oh, yea, Virginia, this here is Tank." he said, pointing to the human Tank. I must not have been the first or only person to think of him as that.

"Cool, nice to meet you Tank." I said, slowly extending my now tiny looking hand to him. I can't say I was very brave while doing this, I thought that this guy would squish me into jelly at any given moment. Tank shook my hand and laughed a deep, rumbling laugh.

"I'm harmless, to most people," Tank said, "No need to worry. Cal says you are his niece, I didn't know he had one. Anyway, it's nice meeting you. I've gotta go though, Lula is waitin for me. Promised her I'd stop by after work. Maybe I'll catch ya around sometime." and with that, he gave a small head nod towards Cal, and headed out the door.

I sat down in the booth across the table from Cal, and a waitress came up and asked what it was I would like. Since it was my first time here, I gave Cal a look like, _'I don't know whats good, you take over'_ and he just shook his head and laughed.

"She'll take the house pizza & a beer, same with me," he said, still laughing.

The waitress nodded her head and started to walk away, but I called her back and requested a Pepsi instead. Cal looked over and gave me a look saying '_What, no beer?_'

"I've got to drive back to the hotel later, and if I have one beer, I won't stop there. I'll end up getting piss drunk at noon. I think. I'm actually not really sure, but I don't want to risk it." I said, laughing to myself about how I was rambling on and on out of nervousness. Cal didn't seem to mind my excess talking. I think he used his talking muscle too much today, first with me in the cemetary, and just now with Tank.

"So, what all was it you wanted to know about me or your grandfather?" He asked, looking towards the kitchen, his hunger a little more than obvious.

"Uhm, well, I'm not entirely sure at the moment. Well, no. That's a lie. I just don't know where to begin with the questions. Apart from being an asshole, what was he like? Did he ever even open the letters my father would send to him? Do you miss him? Do you want me to call you Uncle Cal? Do you want to avoid the name Uncle? Are we to keep in contact after I head back home?" as soon as I finished the last sentance, he made a slight frown "Oh gosh, I hope you didn't take that wrong! Or, I hope you understood what I meant! I was hoping maybe we could at least exchange letters or emails or something." After I did my verbal vomiting, Cal just looked at me, and then smiled a huge smile.

"No worries kiddo. I'll answer your questions from the top," he made a sigh, and rubbed his chin with one hand, "Apart from being an asshole, I guess you could call him your all-American dad. He worked at a local real-estate office, and was good at it. He was an okay guy if you were able to get past his racist bullshit. As to the letters from your father, I don't think he ever did. Many times he would check the mail and see what I'm assuming were letters from him, he would give a disgusted sigh, and throw them away un-opened. I can't say that I don't miss him, but I don't miss him a whole lot. He sent me to a military boarding school, so I wasn't around much. And after I graduated, I joined the army. So I saw him even less. Yes, you can call me Uncle Cal. I'm actually fond of the idea of being an uncle and being called such. I'm really hoping that you and I can keep in close contact. You can come and visit me whenever you like."

We sat there for a minute, letting everything sink in, and the waitress brought us our food. Cal immediatly dug in, while I sat there, trying to fathom the idea that I had an uncle who sounded like he wanted a role in my life in some way. In less than two hours, I went from being uncle-less, to having an uncle who looked like he could kick some serious ass, yet was a real softie it seemed.

_Wow, this is pretty cool,_ I thought to my self. I must have said it out loud though, because _Uncle_ Cal looked up and smiled.

"Same thoughts here kiddo. So what do you say, you gonna come visit me sometime?"

"Sure, at least once a year. I think it would rock. Of course, I'd have to find a replacement job. This little venture kinda lost me mine. By the way, what is Cal short for? If it's short for anything." My curiosity about that one beat me out. I had to know, but judging by the look on his face, he wasn't happy about the thought of answering. I almost expected not to get one.

"Callahan. I hate it, so I shortened it back in highschool. I even changed my name legally to get rid of it." he started to laugh at the end of this sentance, and I joined him, fully seeing the humor in his name and understanding his dislike of it.

**---To Be Continued---**

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	4. Virginia News cont

-- **T H R E E pt2 **--

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After an hour of just eating and talking, Uncle Cal's phone started chirping. He looked at the screen to see who was calling him, and a frown replaced his smile.

"Cal here," a few seconds passed, where I'm assuming his caller spoke, "Yes sir, I'm still at lunch, if you want, you could join us here at Shorty's," a few more seconds passed, "Alright boss, see you in a few." he hung up his phone and looked at me, "My boss is going to meet us here, he has a few questions for me. I hope you won't mind."

"Ah, no. Not at all. I'm going to assume that your boss is another bad-ass scary looking dude," I was serious about the scary looking part, but laughed to cover up that fact.

Uncle Cal's smile returned, and nodded yes.

"Uh, Uncle Cal? Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did kiddo," he said with a laugh, knowing full well what I meant.

"Ha ha.. funny. No, but I was wondering if maybe you knew of a place that was hiring around here. I kinda like the area, and it would be nice to get away from Seattle. Plus, I'm like, in love with this pizza joint here, and would love to live here and be a regular." I said with a smile playing across my face.

"Hrm, what kind of job are you thinking about? I can think of two, but I'm pretty sure one of them won't be up to your liking."

"Well, I don't have experience in anything but retail, and a little bit in like, office and secretary work. What options do you have?"

"One is a bounty hunter, which I don't know if you would like, seeings how tiny you are, and the other seems right up your ally. My work is looking for a person to do the office work that we never get to, and a little bit of surveillance around the building, do you think you would be interested in that one?"

"Uh, yea. I guess. I've never done surveillance, but office work is not a biggie. Who would I talk to about the job, other than you?" I asked, oblivious to the man standing behind me, listening in.

"That would be me," the man said, taking me by surprise. He was fairly tall, all muscle with black cargo pants and a shirt that looked like a second skin. He had skin that matched a mocha in color perfectly, and his brown eyes looked like they could either be cold dark chocolate, or sweet melted chocolate. His black hair was pulled into a low ponytail, resting at the nape of his neck. He must have seen my surprise, because his eyes lit up in a smile, but it wasn't shown on the rest of his face, "So are you interested in the job, Miss..." and he trailed off, obviously wanting my name.

"Virginia, Virginia Hogan. And yes, as Uncle Cal said, it sounds right up my alley." the smile in his eyes traveled through the rest of his face, and lingering while a thought came up in his head. He turned to my Uncle Cal and asked,

"So this is your niece you were blabbing about at the office, well, it's nice to see that his horrible looks don't run that far in the family." he said, looking at me and smiling.

_Did he just insult me, no, it was directed towards Uncle Cal... So he gave me a compliment, right? Do I say thank you, or would that mean agreeing that Uncle Cal has horrible looks, as he put them?_ I trailed off in my head, hoping that this time I wouldn't be speaking out loud.

"Earth to Ginny, Ginny?!" Uncle Cal said, with a quizzical look on his face, "Oh, hey, welcome back to earth. You do know that you think too much, right?" I felt a smile creep up when I realized he was calling me Ginny.

"Er, right, uh, sorry." I stammered, thankful that I didn't say anything out loud. "Uh, what did you say your name was again?" I asked Uncle Cal's boss.

"I didn't say, But it's Carlos Manoso, You can either call me Carlos, or Ranger. I'd prefer Ranger, but I'll give you the choice." he said, looking at me as if I was fresh meat.

Eeeep! This man here, who is sexier than sexy, is looking at me like I'm fresh meat! God, what am I to think here?

I decided it best to clear my head of any thoughts other than the prospect of a job, and gave him my mega-watt smile and said "I like the way Carlos sounds, so I guess I'll call you that if you really don't mind." he smiled either due to my smile I flashed him, or my sudden bout of politeness. I'm not sure which one, and I'm not sure if I care. God I love seeing this man smile!

"Carlos will be fine. Now, about the job, Ginny," and he flashed a devilish smile, what is with the smiles!? "Have Cal here bring you to RangeMan later today so I can fill out all of the necessary paperwork. I'm assuming you will need a place to stay, right?"

"Uh, yea. I don't quite feel like living in a hotel for any longer, the valet kid is a stupid punk, but sadly, that is the only way to get my car parked." I rolled my eyes at just the thought of the little shit. "Two questions though, When do I start, and should I pack up all of my belongings and bring them with me later?"

"You can start tomorrow, and yes, bring all of your things." He turned to Uncle Cal, "I'll just ask you those questions after we get her all settled in. I'm going to go see if Connie has anything interesting for me. I'll be back at my office in about an hour, see you both then." he did the whole macho head nod towards Uncle Cal that Tank gave him, and a smile towards me.

As soon as he left the building, Uncle Cal turned to me and said, "I've never seen him smile that much towards one person since she left him. I'm amazed kiddo."

"Hrm.. I take it he doesn't smile like that with everyone then, and who is this 'she' that you are talking about?"

He sighed, "The woman he was engaged to for a short while. Her name was Stephanie Plum. For a while, she was bouncing back between him and her cop boyfriend Joe Morelli. But about a year ago, her and Morelli split for what everyone thought was for good, and she hooked up with Ranger and they got engaged, but Morelli called, and she ran, leaving Ranger in the dust. Normal people cry when shit like that happens, but Ranger, he just shoots the shit out of targets and works out like no tomorrow." Uncle Cal stood up and left a fifty on the table and motioned for me to follow him, I started to pull my wallet out of my purse to help with the bill, when he laughed and said "No worries Ginny, I got it. Come on, Lets go get your things."

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	5. Vacancy Sign

-- **F O U R** -- **Vacancy Sign** --

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Uncle Cal followed me back to the hotel, but parked on the street. I guess he saw what a little shit the valet kid was, and stopped to talk to him as I was headed towards the elevator. He said a few words to the kid, and it looked like he freaked him out a bit, cause the kid went pale. He turned and walked up to me and pushed the elevator button for my floor.

"What did you tell him? He looked scared shitless." I asked, wondering if I really wanted to know.

"I just told him that the next time a pretty lady trusted him with her car, he should be a little more respectful, or I'd find him and knock the shit behavior out of him." He looked at me and winked, it's nice to have a scary uncle.

The ride up to my floor was mostly filled with small talk. He wanted to know about my mom and dad, and he seemed amused when I told him about my cat, or my baby as I call her.

"Oh shit, I'm going to probably have to go back sometime and arrange for some of my things to be brought here, not to mention my baby." I said, not caring if he found it amusing that I felt that way about my cat.

"I'll go over and help you. I only saw your dad once, it would be nice to fully get to meet my half-bro. I'll talk to Ranger about us possibly doing that before you start working."

"Okey-dokey." As soon as that popped out, I did a mental 'face-palm' and hoped that he wouldn't think I was a retard or something. He laughed as the doors opened and we stepped out and walked to my room.

"Uh, it's kind of a mess in here, I wasn't expecting anyone to stop by." I said, trying to kick my panties under the bed without him noticing. "Lemme load all this shit in my suitcase, and grab the stuff I have in the bathroom. I don't think it will take very long." Seeings how I only brought enough clothes to last 3 days, the original number of days I was planning on staying. I was glad he decided to sit infront of the TV, and took the opportunity to grab up my panties first. Best to get those out of the way.

After all of my clothes were thrown into my suitcase, I gathered all of the stuff from the bathroom and threw it in my travel bag. I looked around and noticed that my toothbrush was nowhere in sight, and wondered if I threw it in my bag already, nope. But hey, look at that, some soaps seem to have found their way in there along with a hand towel or two. Gee, how'd those get there? I let out a small chuckle at how smooth of a criminal I was, and walked out of the bathroom, decided that I could just buy a new toothbrush later.

"Alright, I'm all packed up. I just need to pay up the bill and I'll be set to go."

"Uh, are those handtowels in your travel bag?" Uncle Cal asked, eyeing the bag slung over my shoulder. I blushed and shoved them further down into the bag.

"You didn't see anything." I laughed and put my pink Sony laptop in it's travel case, and grabbed the jacket I had hanging on the chair. Shit, no free hands now. "Hey Uncle Cal, could you..." I didn't even have to finish the sentance and he started picking up my suitcase.. "Thanks." I said and smiled. "Shall we?"

During the elevator ride, Uncle Cal kept looking at my travel bag and smiling. Finally I asked him what the deal was, and he said "I can't believe you stole the towels." And with that he burst out laughing.

"What is so funny about that!? Loads of people do that!" I was laughing too, but decided to throw my jacket at him.

The doors opened and a woman looked at Uncle Cal and said that she would catch the next one. As soon as the doors shut, we burst out laughing again. I don't think I've laughed this much or this hard in ages. Getting out of Seattle was a good thing for me to have done.

When we got to the lobby, I trudged towards the desk, expecting Mrs. Pookie to be on the phone again. I stood at the desk while waiting for her to get my bill ready, and felt a hand on my shoulder. Thinking it was Uncle Cal, I ignored it and let it rest there. It wasn't until I looked up and saw his reflection in the mirror, that I realized it was Carlos. Uncle Cal was standing on my other side, watching the scene silently.

That annoying voice of reason in the back of my head started chattering instantly. _Shit, stop it Ginny, don't let yourself get attracted to this man, he's going to be your boss._ Ugh.

"Uh, hey Carlos. I thought you were Uncle Cal." and with that I backed away a step and his hand fell off my shoulder, he placed it on his hip, where I'm assuming a gun was resting. Eeep.

"I figured as much." Mrs. Pookie came back and handed me the bill, and I went to give her my credit card, when Carlos placed his hand on mine, stopping me from pulling it out. "I'll foot the bill. No worries ba-Ginny." It almost sounded to me like he was about to call me babe or baby. One of the two. He looked away and gave Mrs. Pookie his credit card, and she charged my bill on it.

"Have a nice day, and thank you for staying with us." she said to me and Carlos, not sure of what was the relationship between us.

I smiled, and the three of us trooped off to our cars. Uncle Cal and Carlos waited with me while a differant valet kid got my car for me. When he pulled up and handed me the keys, Carlos looked at Uncle Cal and I and said he would meet us at the office. I let my eyes follow him, lingering on his perfectly sculpted back and ass, and noticed that he was driving a new looking silver porsche.

"Nice uh, car." I said to Uncle Cal, not sure if he would figure out I was checking out Carlos's ass more than his car. "Shall we head out?"

Uncle Cal just laughed and walked to his SUV. I think it got the hidden message. Shit.

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	6. Business as Usual

-- **F I V E** -- **Business as Usual** --

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I followed Uncle Cal to the Rangeman building, and idled behind him waiting for instructions on where to park. He got out of his black SUV and walked over to my window.

"Just park your car in one of the empty, unmarked slots. Nobody will mind." And with that he hit a button and his SUV chirped to let him know it was locked. I did as he said, and parked in a slot that was fairly close to his, and met him by the elevators. "Alright, now to go see the bossman."

During our elevator ride, he explained that the building had security cameras all over, except for in the apartments & bathrooms. The only full floor without camera's was the 7th floor, which was Carlos's 'batcave' as it had been nicknamed.

Calling it the Batcave made sense, since Carlos looked like he could easily fill Batmans shoes.

We got off on the fifth floor, and walked to a set of huge oak doors. One was partialy open, and Uncle Cal popped his head in.

"Hey boss, we're here." he said, still partially hidden behind the massive door.

"Okay, bring her in." Uncle Cal motioned for me to follow him in, and we sat in some tastefull leather chairs infront of Carlos's macho man desk.

"I'm going to assume you don't have a resume with you at the moment, so I'll just pull all of that information up later. At the moment, I'll just get you set up with everything you'll need." he opened a drawer and handed me a S&W 9mm gun, ammo, small black cell phone that was very similar to Uncle Cals, a set of keys and what I'm assuming was the thing to get me through the gate. "Now, about your car, I honestly prefer those who work for me to drive around black vehicals, and bright yellow rental just doesn't cut it. Would you be comfortable driving an SUV similar to Cals, or do you have a preferance on you car?" he asked, another smile playing in his eyes, bringing their color to warm chocolate.

"Uhm, I'm worried about how big the SUV is, I mean, I'm only 5' 3" and 120 pounds, I wouldn't want to wreck it. Do you have any small cars, like, oh, uhm, a Supra or something?"

"Supra? You serious about that?" Carlos asked, I wasn't sure how to read his tone of voice, and figured he was upset about the car choice.

"If it's a problem, I'll take whatever you have that is smaller than the SUVs. I really don't mind, I promise." I threw out there, worried about what this man could possibly do to me. Uncle Cal brought his left hand up and placed it on his forehead, hiding most of his face.

He just looked at me and probably saw the fear on my face, and let out a loud, barking laugh. "It's not a problem at all Gin. I was just wondering if that was really the car you want because those are a dime-a-dozen around here. I'll arrange to have one brought over here for you." he continued to chuckle a little bit while filling out some forms.

I looked over at Uncle Cal who seemed to have been looking at me and chuckling as well, and remembered that I was to ask if we could take a short trip to Seattle to get the rest of my things. Carlos was still writing up the forms, and I figured I had better ask before I got freaked out again and lost all of my nerve.

"Hey Carlos," I paused while waiting for him to acknowledge me. He looked up and I continued, "I, well, we, as in Uncle Cal and I, were wondering if maybe him and I could take a quick trip over to Seattle to get the rest of my things before I started working. Would that be alright?"

"How long would you need?"

"Er," I squinted my right eye in thought, "Probably no more than a week. I don't have a whole lot of stuff. Just my cat and a few odds and ends."

Carlos smiled when I said I had a cat, and said "Yea, no problem. I'll get you and Cal one way tickets, and you can call me the day before you are ready to leave, and I'll get you tickets to come back. I'll send you a message tonight when I get them, letting you know the departure times."

I opened my mouth to say that I would pay for them, since it wasn't really a business trip, and he held up a hand to silence me before I even began speaking. "Don't worry ba-Ginny. Two tickets won't put a dent in the business account. Your supra won't even do that." he gave a small smile that had several meanings behind it, and I wasn't sure what they all were. Best not to ask about that one, but..

"Uhm, forgive me if this is out of line, but every now and then, when you go to address me, it almost sounds like something else slips out, may I ask what that is?" I bit my lower lip and was worried that it had something to do with this Stephanie chick, and that I stepped over the line. I wasn't sure what kind of answer I'd get in return, or if I'd even get one.

He gave a small head tilt, and thought before he answered, "I'm not sure what to tell you on that one, except that it's a topic for another day."

I was grateful that it hadn't bothered him, but his answer only increased my curiosity, still, best to let it be. For now. "Okay," I said. And before I thought about what I was saying, "Well make that a date then," and I immediatly felt my face grow bright red.

_Shit._ I thought, _Oh man, now what? I guess I can only play it cool now, but that will be hard to do with my friggin bright red face._

Carlos and Uncle Cal both smiled after my blubber line, and Uncle Cal suddenly thought his shoes were the most intresting things in the world. Carlos, on the other hand, thought that _I_ was the most inresting thing in the world, and didn't take his eyes off me for what felt like years.

Finally, he looked at his forms, and said, "I guess that would work. We'll set it in stone when you get back from Seattle. But for now, you are all set to go." he smiled a new smile, a huge, wolf like grin.

How many smiles can one person have in their smile box?

"Many." Carlos said, laughter playing at the end of the word.

"Ah shit, I said that out loud, didn't I?" I asked to whomever would answer me.

"Yes." both men said in unison.

"I'm begining to think I do that a lot," I said, feeling like a total tard.

"You don't do it often, but you do it enough for it to be funny." Uncle Cal said.

Uncle Cal, Carlos and I all stood up and began walking towards the door.

"By the way," Carlos said once we reached the door, "You're new apartment is on the fourth floor. I'll have Tank show you where it's at. You're his new neighbor."

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	7. Moving Up

-- **S I X** -- **Moving Up** --

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Carlos brought Uncle Cal & I to the surveillance room, and motioned to Tank to come over.

"Take a quick break and show Miss Hogan here to her appartment. Cal will take over your shift until you get back." Tank nodded his head and looked at me with a serious look on his face. Uncle Cal went and sat where Tank had been, and Carlos left.

As soon as Carlos was no longer insight, a soft hum of talking filled the room, and Tank smiled at me & Uncle Cal swiveled in his chair so he could face us..

"So you are filling that office job? Best of luck to you. It bored the last person to tears. Come on, I'll show you to you're pad." He started walking to the door, and I walked over to Uncle Cal and gave him a hug.

"Thanks." I said and smiled.

"For what?" he asked, the question lingering on his face.

"For helping me get a job & for everything else you done for me today."

"Oh, that. It's no problem Ginny. I'm just tryin to be a good Uncle for ya." he said smiling.

"Well, you are doing a good job. I'll see you later!" I said, and walked off to catch up with Tank.

I began following Tank a few steps behind him, when he stopped and turned around.

"You don't have to walk behind me. And you certainly don't have to keep much distance between us. You're Cal's niece, which makes you mine too now." he smiled at the last part, and I closed the gap between us.

Before I knew what I was doing, I smiled and gave him a hug. I had to almost jump to get my arms around his neck. He picked me up and wrapped me in a big bear hug and laughed. My feet were about half a foot off the ground, but I was so happy to hear that I could count him as an uncle that I didn't mind.

After our hugging session, Tank & I hoped on the elevator and went to the fourth floor. We got out and walked a short distance down the hall, and stopped.

"This is your new pad," he said, pointing to 4c. There was a letter taped on the door, and I assumed it was from Carlos. I opened it up, and sure enough, Carlos.

_I have your plane tickets ready. The plane leaves at 11.30am, so be at the airport at ten. Tell Tank to bring you two, since I'm assuming he is standing next to you._

_-Carlos_

"Uh, Carlos says for you to take Uncle Cal & I to the airport tomorrow morning. He says to be there at ten." I said, putting the letter back in the envelope and looking up at Tank.

"Alright. We'll leave around nine thirty then. Did he give you keys?" he asked, nodding to the door.

"Somewhere..." I dug around in my pockets for the keys Carlos handed me earlier, and found them in my back pocket. "Ah-ha. Here they are." One key had 4c written on it, so I stuck that in the lock, turned it, and heard the lock tumble.

Tank and I stepped in, and I took a quick look about the apartment. It had a decent size kitchen, the living room and dining room were one room, and I saw a door leading to what I assumed was the bedroom.

"Wow, this is bigger than my place back in Seattle." I said, wondering how my small furniture would work in this large space.

"I'm afraid to say that you actually got one of the smaller ones. Prolly on account of how tiny you are," and he gave a playfull shove at my shoulder.

"Ha ha," I said sarcasticaly, "Just because I'm tiny don't mean I need a tiny space!" I paused for a second, "Okay, so maybe I do prefer smaller spaces. This is perfect though." I said and laughed.

I began doing a walkthrough of my new apartment, with Tank close on my heels. When I went into the kitchen, I almost sang 'Halleluja' when I saw there was a dishwasher. I continued my tour, checking out the bedroom next. It was about the same size as the living/dining room, and was a perfect fit for my bedroom furniture. I popped my head into the bathroom and liked what I saw. This place was perfect! I began planning the layout for each room, when I was interupted by Tank.

"Hey kiddo, I'm gonna head back to work. I'll send Cal up to see ya." I gave him a hug and thanked him for bringing me up here, and he headed out the door.

I heard my door shut and did a happy dance in the middle of my new bedroom.

"Heck YES! This kicks ass. I'm finally moving up in this damned world!" I said outloud to my empty apartment.

"Yes, you are. Now tell me, what do you plan to sleep on?" came a voice from the doorway to my bedroom.

I jumped and probably yelled shit, cause the man laughed. I turned to see who it was, and nearly smacked him when I saw it was Carlos. He was leaning to one side against my doorway, doing a damn good show of how sexy he was.

"Damn it Carlos. How did you get in? I didn't hear the door open or close after Tank left." I said, narrowing my eyes in my best attempt to look mean.

"You were too busy dancing," he said, his devilish grin back for round two, "I'll ask again, what do you plan to sleep on?"

_Shit. No furniture. I forgot about that part._ I thought.

"Uhm, I don't know. I don't suppose you have an extra pillow and some blankets? That will be all I need until I can get my stuff over here."

"Yes, I have those. I also have a bed coming over from an extra apartment. You can use that instead of the floor." And no sooner did he finish his sentance, someone knocked on my door. He stood upright, and walked to my front door.

"In the bedroom," he said, his tone of voice differant than before. It was rougher, not soft and gentle like it had been with me.

Three men walked in, two were carrying the mattress and boxspring at once, while the third had the frame. They assembled it, and headed out.

"Thank you!" I called out to them, but didn't get any reply. My guess is it had something to do with Carlos standing there watching their every move.

"There is a pillow, some sheets and blankets in your closet. I trust you can make your bed?" his voice back to being soft.

"Uh, uhm. Yea. I can. Thanks." I said, smiling at the differance in treatment.

_Is it a good thing? Should I be happy that he's being so nice? Well, duh. But what on earth does it mean_. Is _there a meaning?_ I thought, praying to God that I wasn't thinking out loud.

Carlos smiled and left the apartment.

I needed to get my head sorted out, and I think I remember a heavenly shower head in the bathroom. I'd shower after I saw Uncle Cal. I think I'm going to try grilling _him_ for answers on this first.

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	8. A game of 20 questions

-- **S E V E N** --** A Game of 20 Questions **--

* * *

At 4.30 Uncle Cal knocked on my door, and as soon as I opened the door, I bombarded him with questions. 

"Why does it sound like he's about to call me Babe or Baby or whatever from time to time? What is with all of the smiles? How old is he? Is he single? No, forget the last one. Uhm, is he just being nice to me because I'm your niece? Or is it because I'm a chick? Do you ha-"

Uncle Cal cut me off, "Whoa, slow down kiddo. Those are all questions you'd have to ask him, 'cause I ain't sure about any of the answers, and I don't wanna give you any wrong info."

He walked up to me, put an arm around my shoulder, and smiled.

"How about we head back to Shorty's and grab some early dinner?" he said while still smiling, "Maybe I can convince the boss to join us, and you can bombard him with everything you just threw at me."

"Sure, uh, if you are serious about inviting him, give him a call while I grab my things."

And with that, I went into the kitchen where I had left my purse, and transfered my new keys, phone & gun into there. I heard Uncle Cal on the phone, I had honestly been hoping he was joking about inviting Carlos. I sighed and decided to play it cool and bombard him with my questions at the end of the night. When I heard him hang up, I remembered the note Carlos left on my door.

"Oh hey, Uncle Cal, I forgot to tell you, Carlos has tickets for us, the plane leaves at 11.30am tomorrow, and Tank is gonna bring us to the airport. We will leave around like, I think he said 9.30. Is that cool?"

"Yea, no prob. Carlos said he'd join us, but he won't eat the food. He's a health nut by the way," Uncle Cal smiled and said, "I told him you had a few questions for him. He asked what sort of questions, and I said I didn't know. Now you have to ask him."

I laughed, but I punched him in the shoulder and called him a jerk.

"Who's to say that I won't loose my nerve and just ask random bullshit questions, eh?"

"I told him they were on the personal side, but other than that, I said I had no idea what they were," he smiled again and walked towards the door, "Shall we Gin? He was on his way towards that part of town when I called him, which is why he agreed. Best not to keep the boss waitin'."

We took the elevator down to the garage, Uncle Cal said we would just take the SUV there, and I asked him if it had a CD player in it.

"Yea, why? You gonna play DJ or somethin'?" he asked.

"I was planning on it, lemme grab my CD's from my car." I jogged to where my yellow rental was, and grabbed my cd case from the passenger seat. Uncle Cal had brought the SUV over, and was idling behind my car. I hopped in and buckled up.

"What sort of music do you like? Would you mind Fiona Apple?" I asked, intending on putting my Fiona Apple CD in no matter what his answer was.

"Something tells me that you are gonna put in whatever you feel like, but I don't have much of a preferance either way." he said, eyes on the road as we pulled out of the gate.

I popped in my CD, and hit the search button until I found the song that had been stuck in my head all day. Shadowboxer seemed fitting for most of the days events. I hummed along for most of the song, but felt like singing one certain part,

**_You made me a shadowboxer, baby.  
I wanna be ready for what you do.  
I been swinging all around me.  
'cause I dont know when you're gonna make your move._**

**_Oh, your gaze is dangerous.  
And you fill your space so sweet.  
If I let you get too close,  
You'll set your spell on me._**

"I think I know who you are singing for Gin." Uncle Cal injected between the lines of the song. "I'm tempted to tell you to keep your wits about you. He's not all sugar and spice hun. What ever may happen, I won't interfere, but just," he sighed, "Just keep your wit's about you."

I smiled at his remark, again grateful that I had an uncle in my life who was genuinely concerned for me. But I began wondering if he knew more about the situation that he was letting on.

"You know something, don't you?" I asked, hoping that he would give me an answer of use.

He looked at me and sighed again, he looked tired, or maybe it was worry. I was sure that he knew something. But what was it?

"Ranger looks at you like fresh meat. I've seen him look at a woman that way before. He only gets that look towards a woman he can see himself being with long term," I started to speak, thinking that it wasn't a bad thing, but he cut me off, "Hun, his idea of long term most likely will not include a ring, almost definatly does not include a future family, and includes sharing his bed whenever he feels _hungry_. He's a great guy, works hard, very dedicated to everything he does. But marriage isn't an idea he is fond of anymore, and a family is just not on his agenda, and probably never will be. From what I can tell of you already, you seem like the type of woman who would want a husband and a family of her own someday. Am I right about that?"

"Well, uhm, yea. Someday. But not today. Are you saying to keep my guard up around him, and to try and avoid a romantic relationship?" I asked, not sure what I should be feeling right now.

"I'm not telling you to do anything. I'm just telling you what has been on my mind since you threw all those questions at me back at your apartment," he said. "Well, we are here. I kinda feel like an ass now though. Keep in mind, that this man has a differant personality towards everyone. Who knows what is going on in his mind when he looks at you. Hard to believe it's anything other than awe though. You got good genes kid."

We laughed while he parked the car, and got out and walked towards the door. When we got in, not only was Carlos there, but Tank and two other guys were sitting with him. Uncle Cal and I walked up and joined the party. Everyone but Carlos was drunk.

This promised to be a fun evening.

**Thanks for reading this! Please leave me a little review of sorts. :D**


	9. A game of 20 questions cont

-- **S E V E N pt2** --

* * *

At the same time Uncle Cal and I walked into Shorty's, the dinner crowd was just showing up, so there wasn't a lot of room to sit. The booth the guys were at was packed tight, leaving no extra room, so Uncle Cal went looking around for chairs to pull up, but only found one. 

"Who's lap are you sitting on gorgeous?" one of the men said when Uncle Cal came back. This guy was the smallest there, other than me, skin like caramel, and what seemed the usual attire for Carlo's men, black cargo pants, and a black shirt.

I looked over at Uncle Cal, and he smiled & set a drink on his lap. Tank was piss drunk and laughing at the seen, so I figured his lap wouldn't work, and I didn't feel comfortable making a seat out of the other guys, I didn't even know their names. That only left one person.

_Ah shit, _I thought. _I either stand, or sit on Carlos's lap._ I gave a mental sigh, _Buck up, chickie, It's not the end of the world._

So I flashed my mega-watt smile, and looked at Carlos. "You can either let me make a cushion out of you, or you can be a gentleman and let me have the seat." I kept smiling, hoping to hide the fact that the idea of sitting on his lap was both terrifying and exciting at the same time.

"It's been a long day for me, so I'm not gonna stand," he looked at me and motioned for me to sit.

I walked over, and Carlos adjusted himself on the seat to make sure that there would be enough room on his lap, and I assumed also to make sure I wouldn't be sitting on a gun or anything. When I sat down, there a few "whoos!" and "Go Boss!" comments from the guys, that weren't silenced by Carlos, but by me. I motioned for the waitress, and asked her to bring me a beer & asked if she had any garlic chicken pizza.

"Yep, we got that. Would you like one?" she replied.

"Yes, please. Can I get that medium sized?" I asked, planning on bringing some home for breakfast tomorrow.

"Sure, lemme put your order in and I'll be right back with your drink." and with that, she sashayed off to the kitchen. I noticed the two guys watching her every move while eating their pizza, and remembered that I had no clue who they were.

"So, who are you hungry animals anyways?" I asked, laughing at the fact that they seemed to be hungry in more than one way. They both started laughing, and I realized that Tank wasn't the only drunk one in our small party.

Carlos leaned in closer to me, and pulled me back slightly so that he could stage whisper in my ear. "That's Bobby & Lester, and yes, all three of them are drunk off their asses."

His breath on my neck and his mouth having been so close to my ear sent shivers down my spine, and at the same time, made me feel warm and hot in my face and lower regions. I can't say I didn't like it, but I wasn't about to admit to anyone that I did. Uncle Cal's words were still ringing in my ears, and I had planned on keeping my guard up tonight. But Carlos was making it hard. The waitress returned with my beer, and I drank nearly half of it in one gulp.

I looked over at Uncle Cal, and saw that he had a smile on his face.

_What? _I mouthed to him, expecting no answer in return. But he stood up, and motioned for me to follow him. I looked over my shoulder at Carlos, and said I'd be right back, and went to follow Uncle Cal. We walked to the jukebox that was hiding against the front wall, and I re-asked my question. 

"What was that smile for? Weren't you just warning me about him earlier?" I asked, giving my best demanding, angry woman voice. I'll admit that I wasn't too pleased that he made me sit on Carlos's lap.

"It's nothin Ginny. It's just funny to see a woman, more so you, sitting on the boss's lap. It almost makes him look domesticated," he laughed and made a show of making me pick out some music. I only saw one artist that I liked, so I had him pay for all of the George Thorogood songs that this old machine had.

"And, I didn't necissarily _warn_ you about him. It was more or less an FYI memo," he looked at me and smiled, "I was kinda hoping it would make you want to chase after him I guess. Come on, now that you've cleaned my pockets of all my loose change, lets head back. It looks like your pizza finally made it to the table."

We walked back to the table, and I took my place on Carlos's lap, as if it was truely something I did everyday. I leant forward, and grabbed a slice of my pizza, and munched on that, savoring the feeling of the food hitting my already beer-filled stomach. Tank, Bobby & Lester decided that they were gonna head out, and made sure Carlos knew that they were having some guy name Hal pick them up.

After having had three pieces of pizza, I was feeling pretty full. I flagged the waitress over and asked if she had a box for my extra pieces, and she disappeared and then reappeared carrying my box.

"Thanks," I said and smiled, the beer and food were hitting all the right places. I packaged my food up, still sitting on Carlos's lap, even though there was plenty of room now, and looked over at Uncle Cal, who hadn't eaten or drank anything all night. "You didn't get anything to eat?" I asked, hoping that my jukebox spree didn't take up all of his money.

"Nah. We only came here for one reason, which I think you've forgotten about," he said and laughed.

I did a mental, and physical, 'head-palm' and looked over my shoulder at Carlos.

"That's right! I had questions for you." I said and giggled, maybe the beer hit _too many_ right places.

Carlos just let out a chuckle and re-adjusted me on his lap so that my left side was against his front. Being as drunk as I was, I placed my left arm around his neck, and began blurting out my questions.

"Why do you sometimes almost call me what I'm assuming is babe? Are you nice to me because I'm Cal's niece or because I'm a chick? Why do you smile so much? How old are you? Uh, there was one I didn't wanna ask Cal about before, so I ain't sayin it now... Err..." I squinted my eyes, trying to focus and think, "Do you think I'm pretty?" I let out a drunk giggle then, which made it obvious to Uncle Cal, Carlos & I just how much the beer was affecting me.

Carlos just smiled and laughed.

"I'll only answer a few of them. I think you are a little to drunk to hear and remember the answers to others." he sighed to stop himself from laughing, and continued, "I'm 30, I smile so much cause not only are you cute, in several ways, but you are amusing, and I haven't found many reasons to smile or laugh in one day for a while now. I'm nice to you because of that. Being his niece or a _chick_, as you say, has nothing to do with it. Well, maybe being a chick does, but it's not the main reason. Let's see, I think that covers what should be answered tonight."

I was a little unhappy that he thought I wouldn't remember some things, and spoke up, "Hey buddy, answer them all!! Please?!" I gave him googly, girly eyes at the word please, hoping it would make him give me more. He gave a sigh that had a laugh bundled in with it, and decided to continue.

_Score one for me, _I thought. 

"I sometimes almost call you babe, cause it just rolls out. You remind me of someone, in the best ways, and I used to call her that. And, no, I don't think you are pretty," he paused and looked at me, the fact that my heart sunk must have shown on my face, because he held up a hand signaling to wait,

"I think you are gorgeous." And with that, I smiled and wrapped him in a hug. I didn't even realize how bad I had wanted to hear that from him. But it made my heart soar when I heard it, and I wanted him to know.

I pulled myself out of the hug, and looked him square in the eyes, "I think you're sexier than hell," I blurted out. Not caring what anyone in the world would think. I mean, hell, if things went horribly wrong, I had the fact that I was pretty damn near piss drunk as a defense.

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**Thanks for reading this! I'll get the next part up soon! **[today is 9/17/2007, hopefull it will be up before the 20th! **Please leave a review so that I have good news to feed off of, or at least stuff to help me!**


	10. Rushing for Nothing

-- **E I G H T** -- **Rushing for Nothing** --

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I woke up the next morning with my head pounding, then I realized that it wasn't my head, it was my door. I reached over to the empty side of my bed where I had put my purse and dug out my cell phone.

"Shit!!" I yelled. I had slept in a lot longer than I should have. It was already nine thirty.

I flew out of bed, and raced to the front door, not taking notice of what I was wearing. I opened it and ran off to the kitchen to grab a slice of pizza without even looking who it was. I headed to my room to get dressed, and my visitor wrapped a strong arm around my waist, pulling me back.

"Nice outfit Gin." he said. It was Carlos.

I froze and looked at what I was wearing. I had stripped down to just my black panties and a black Linkin Park shirt before I went to bed last night, and that was all I was wearing now.

I blushed and looked up into his face.

"It's a late morning. Now, if you dont mind, I've gotta throw on some clothes and pack." and with that, I wiggled free, and ran into the bedroom. I grabbed my travel back and emptied out the things I wouldn't be needed, and filled it with things I would need. Hairbrush, a change of clothes since I still had a lot in Seattle, and was looking for my toothbrush before I remembered I had lost it in the hotel room. I shrugged and threw on deoderate and jeans, and went back to see Carlos.

"Ugh.. I didn't mean to sleep in. Now the day is going to suck," I said, not caring if I was eating my pizza like an animal. I didn't think I had much time.

"No worries. Tank had to bail. He's in worse shape than you are. So I'm going to bring you and Cal today. Take your time eating, we can leave a few minutes late."

I nodded, and slowed down everything I was doing. When my pizza was done, I walked into my room and grabbed a pair of black socks and put them on, grabbed my purse and trainers, and decided I was about as ready as I could be. As soon as I walked out into the living room, there was a knock on my door. Carlos and I headed for the door and opened it, and it was Uncle Cal.

"I figured that since she would want to sleep in, there wasn't a rush." he said, and I noticed that he didn't have any bags at all. Must be a light traveler.

"Shall we then?" I asked, looking at the guys. They both nodded and we headed out.

* * *

_- - - - A week Later - - - -_

* * *

When we got back I didn't feel like I had gotten much done in Seattle. My furniture was going to be shipped over in a few days. The only thing I managed to bring with me was my cat. My clothes were included in the shippment that was on it's way over, so I was stuck with the few clothes I had with me.

When Tank picked Uncle Cal and I up from the airport, I kept thinking about the clothes I had to wash.

"Hey Tank," I asked, poking my head up into the space between the front seats, "Is there a washer and dryer at RangeMan?"

"Uh, yea, but I'm sure Ella got your laundry done for you. So no worries kiddo. If not, you can always page her and ask her to."

"Awesome," I said, glad to not have to do my laungry.

The ride back to the building was pretty silent. It wasn't until we were pulling into the gate that anyone spoke.

"So, How was it sitting on Ranger's lap last week?" Tank asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

"Uh, well, it was like sitting on a lap, I guess," I replied, not sure how to answer that one, "Was he carrying two guns that night?" I asked, remembering something kept digging into my back when I would lean against him.

Tank just sat there lauging for a few seconds, then answered, "He might have been," he continued laughing, "It's uh, it's hard to tell."

I shrugged, and as we were getting out of the SUV, I caught the meanings behind his words.

"Ohmigod! Tank, are you serious!?" I said as my voiced raised an octave or two.

Both Tank and Uncle Cal laughed and kept walking to the elevator, leaving me standing by the SUV dumbstruck.

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**I'm sorry this is a little short and vauge. I'll make up for it in the next chapter. I plan on having that one be the one where things get pretty intresting. ;) Please Review so I know how I'm doing, and thanks to everyone who already has.**

**And, ****MUCH**** thanks goes to Hollie for helping me out many times already. :D :D**


	11. The Welcome Home

-- **N I N E** --** The Welcome Home **--

**A/N: As I promised, this one will be both longer, and more intresting. Read, Review and Enjoy! Oh, and be weary of the smut. OhEmmEffGee is there every smut in this chapter!!**

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The three of us got on the elevator, and I had my cat Akiva in her travel case at my feet. We rode the elevator in what would have been silence, had the two men not been laughing. I didn't know if I was shocked, flattered, scared, I really had no idea. When we got to the office floor, Tank and Uncle Cal looked over at me,

"We have to get to work. We'll stop by your apartment after we get off. See ya later kiddo." Uncle Cal said and smiled, and they got off the elevator.

I rode the rest of the way in silence, thankful that I would get some to sort through my thoughts. When it stopped on the forth floor, I picked up Akiva, surprised that she handled the trip so well, and headed to my apartment. As I got closer, I saw that my door was open, and had no idea what to think.

_This is supposed to be a secure building, who the hell broke into my apartment!_ I thought, wondering if anything was stolen, _Oh, shit, yea. No stuff. _I did a mental head slap, and walked in and nearly dropped Akiva at what I saw.

My apartment was filled with exquisite and expensive looking furniture. A leather couch and wingback chair, an entertainment center made of mahogany, and an antique looking writing desk. I stood there in awe taking it all in. I set Akiva down on the floor, shut the door, and let her out. God only knows where that cat ran. I laughed and noticed that there was a table next to my door with a silver dish and a flower vase next to it, filled with Pink Stargazer lilies.

_Someone knows my favorite flower,_ I thought, placing my keys in the silver dish and walking further into my apartment. I took a quick glance in my kitchen and saw a cute French cafe theme going on, complete with a French cafe style table and chairs.

_How on earth did this person know my decorating style?_ I was in awe. The next room to check out was my bedroom. I walked toward my room, and for some reason, I felt apprehensive about opening to door, not sure of who or what I would find. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up, and I had that excitement-pee feeling going on. I couldn't help sensing that someone was waiting for me in there.

_Carlos I bet,_ I thought, and hoped.

I opened the door, and was dumbstruck by what I saw. The queen sized bed I had been using was replaced by a regal looking king sized bed, with four columns that almost reached the ceiling. It was mahogany like the entertainment center in my living room, and was made up with the most luxurious looking bedding. It was full of reds and golds and chocolate browns. I wanted nothing more than to plop down on my new bed.

I sensed someone standing not even a foot behind me, and knew exactly who it was. I turned around and hugged him. When I looked up into his face, my suspicions were correct, and Carlos stood there smiling at me with his arms wrapped around my waist. There was something in his eyes that made me want to melt into him and get lost in them.

_I just want to stay here until never dawns,_ I thought to myself, happy to be in this mans arms. I wasn't sure why, but it just felt so right. It felt like a perfect it.

Before I knew what was happening, his mouth met mine in a hungry, yet passionate kiss. His arms pulled me closer to him, and I clung to his neck afraid that if I let go, this would all end. His tongue began working its way into my mouth, and I let it in. His kiss was sweeter than words, yet fierce and strong like he was. After what felt like hours, but was actually only minutes, we broke apart and stood there looking at each other.

"I'm home," I said softly, still recovering from the pleasant shock of his kiss. He just smiled down at me and nodded his head.

"How do you like your furniture?" he asked after a few moments of silence, "I had Cal describe the state of yours, and it didn't sound all that great. So I decided you would like this much better." Carlos said while he tucked a stray bit of hair behind my ear. His voice was soft, calm and smooth, and I was beginning to feel hypnotized by his delicious smell and the warmth of his body.

"Hum?" I said, in a dreamy state, "Oh, I love it very much, thank you. How should I pay you back? I don't have a lot of money at the moment, but if you wanted to just write an 'I owe You' up for me, I could repay you when I have the-" he put a finger to my lips and shushed me.

"You don't have to worry. I have plenty of money, and very little things to buy." he said, bringing his lips to mine for another electrifying kiss. One hand wandered under my shirt, sending a shiver up my spine, while the other traveled south and groped my ass. He pulled out of the kiss, only to kiss my ear, which sent a flash of heat down between my legs each time he exhaled. I must have let out a small moan, because I felt him smile. He placed both hands under my shirt while still kissing my ear, and began to pull it off, when there was knock at the door.

"Shit," he hissed, staring at the door, he looked back at me and gave a wicked grin, "We'll have to finish this another time."

I sighed, trying to calm my body and mind down, and walked to the door. I peeked through the peep hole, saw Tank and Uncle Cal, and opened the door.

"Wow," the two said in unison, "Nice furniture." Tank said.

I felt Carlos walk up behind me and put an arm around my waist. "I figured she needed new things," he said, looking at me with that wicked grin still in place, "I also had Ella wash your regular clothes, and pick up some uniforms for you. Everything is in your closet. You can start work tomorrow, I'll need you there at 8am."

Uncle Cal and Tank must have seen the grin, and I know they saw his arm around my waist.

"I'm pretty tired, I'm gonna head to bed early tonight." Uncle Cal said with a twinkle in his eye. Tank nodded and said he was too, and the left.

I shut the door behind them, and before it was fully closed, Carlos was pulling me towards him. I giggled, and allowed him to pick me up by my waist and bring me to the bedroom. He gently tossed me onto the bed, and crawled on top of me. He began kissing me with the same hunger and passion as before while reaching both hands under my shirt, and succeeded in pulling it off this time. He sat up take the view in, and pulled his shirt off, and kicked off his boots. I reached my hands up to his belt, and slowly undid it, looking into his eyes the whole time. His hands were unbuttoning my jeans, and he slid those off, bringing my panties down with them. His arms wrapped around me and he rolled us over so that I was on top, and I knew just what to do. I slid my hands down his chest, lightly grazing his skin with my nails, and hooked my fingers in the belt loops on his pants, slid them off, and enveloped him in my mouth. I brought him in as far as I could, and then pulled back, focusing on the tip, while massaging his balls with one hand.

Carlos let gave a deep moan, and I knew he was enjoying it. I began moving my mouth faster and brought him deeper. After a few minutes, his hips bucked, and he pulled me up to his face and kissed me. He rolled us over again while still holding me in a kiss, and began moving his kisses down again, bypassing my ear this time. He planted soft kisses down my neck, he kissed my collarbone and removed my bra, and began to lick and kiss both nipples, causing them to stiffen. His kisses continued on down my body, and he paused to flash a devilish grin at me.

"Your going to love this," he purred and smiled, and then I felt his mouth close around my clit and began assaulting it with his tongue, licking and sucking it. With his left hand he groped my left breast, and his right hand snaked down, and he plunged one finger into my opening, driving me over the edge. I moaned his name, and begged him to come into me. He brought his kisses up to my mouth, pulled away, and reached for his pants.

I thought I had scared him off or something, and was happily surprised when he dug through his pants and pulled out a condom. He put it on, smiled, and continued his kiss. When he entered me, I gasped with pleasure. I knew he was large when I had him in my mouth, but I was still surprised when I felt him in me. He rested in there for a second, to let me get used to him, and then began a rhythm of gentle thrusts.

Our breathing got more ragged, and I felt myself coming close, and moaned in pleasure. I began whimpering, asking him to go deeper and faster, and he did just that. I felt myself tense up, and knew I was about to cum. He brought his right hand down to my clit, and began rubbing it with his thumb, and I matched his every move with a hip thrust. When I came, I let out a loud scream, and cried out his name. Shortly after, he rammed into me, and moaned my name.

We collapsed on the bed next to each other, and laid there for a few minutes.

"Welcome home gorgeous," he said, still recovering his breath.

I smiled and kissed him, and we soon drifted off to sleep.

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**MUCH thanks go to Hollie for helping me with several/many parts of this chapter, and well, the story as a whole!! Thanks babe! Couldn't have done it [very well without you!!!! **And yes, I'm an advocate for safe sex, lol.

**Please review and let me know how my first ever smut scene went! lol.**


	12. Good Morning

-- **T E N** -- **Good Morning** --

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**WARNING!**More smut in this chapter. I hope you all honestly didn't think I would make Carlos/Ranger be a one-timer, did you? laughs

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I woke up to a dark room, and had no idea what time it was, or even where I was at. I looked up and saw the bed, and remembered the furniture Carlos bought me and that I was in my apartment. I could feel his breath on my neck, and his arm around my waist holding me close to him. The room had cooled down, and we had fallen asleep unclothed on top of the covers. I shivered and moved to get under them, and felt Carlos stir next to me.

"Hurm?" he asked, his voice heavy with sleep, "What's up gorgeous?"

"I'm cold, get under the covers with me," I said, my voice sounding sleepy as well.

We both shifted and got under the covers, and he pulled me back into his arms. He was still so warm! And as it always seemed, he smelt delicious. I wanted nothing more than to stay with him like this forever. I snuggled into the crook of his arm and kissed his neck, and fell back asleep.

When we woke up, it was 6.30 in the morning, and we hadn't moved a muscle all night. Carlos kissed me and smiled.

"G'morning beautiful." he said still smiling.

"Morning handsom." I said, flashing my mega watt smile at him.

"Uhmmmm, That smile is what got me hooked in the first place."

"Oh really now?" I said while getting myself out of bed. I was a little tender, to put things nicely, but I managed to hobble to the bathroom to hop in the shower. _Whoo-hoo!_ I thought, no clothes to take off, and I got straight in.

Carlos walked in while I had my back to the door, and got into the shower with me. I gave a small fake fight, but I guess he saw right through that because he pinned my hands against the shower walls, pushing me up against it, and began kissing me. I felt him grow hard against my stomach, and I pressed my hips against him, getting a moan and thrust in return. We stayed there for a minute with our hips fused together in pressure, then he opened the shower door and grabbed a condom.

_Hrm, someone planned for this to happen,_ I thought and giggled silently. I had been wrapped up in my short thought that I didn't notice that he already had the condom on until he lifted one of my legs and drove himself in. I gasped in pleasure, and pushed him as far in as possible. He began a rhythm of deep, hard thrusts, that had my body pounding against the wall. During one thrust, my leg that he wasn't holding, slipped, and I nearly fell. He laughed, pulled himself out, picked me up, and laid me down on the shower floor. He came down on top of me, and continued his pounding, but began kneading one of my breasts, and rubbing my clit. He stopped going in as deep as before, but it still felt like heaven. My back arched, and I began matching his thrusts with my own hips, ramming our bodies together.

_This man is amazing! _I thought, while the ecstasy clouded my brain. I felt myself coming close to what already promised to be another powerful and amazing orgasm, and knew that Carlos had to be close as well. As it drew nearer, I heard myself calling his name, and him moaning mine. When I came, it was stronger than last night, and my legs wrapped around him, drawing him in deeper once again. With one last powerful thrust, he moaned and threw his head back, and nearly shouted my name,

"Oh god Virginia, damn, you feel so great," he said with ragged breath, and made deep and long moan at the end. He collapsed on top of me, and we let the running water beat down on us. The hot water was gone at this point, and it was now freezing cold, but the heat we just put into the small room made us forget about that.

Carlos and I got up and out of the shower, and I let him dry me off. His hands wandered all of my body, making it feel like he was memorizing my body, and I did the same when I dried him off. Every inch of him was perfect. Even his ass.

I got my new uniform out of my closet, and changed into that, and realized I looked like a mini Carlos. Well, everyone dressed like him here, so it didn't mean much, but my skin, hair and eye color made us more alike. He smiled when he saw me in it, and I knew he was thinking the same thing.

"People on the street will think we are related," he said, "Maybe even twins."

We both laughed at this, and headed down to the office. I honestly hate shoes, and decided that my black socks would work. I figured that since I wouldn't be leaving the building, I wouldn't need them, and Carlos never said anything about it either, so I guessed it was fine.

When we got to the office, Carlos directed me to my cubby, and started describing my job to me. It sounded pretty simple. They would give me files of various people, and I would do searches on them. I would have to make the occasional phone call, and read through some of the files to pick out the most important information. Carlos said I wouldn't have to read through that many, if there were any at all. I was also informed about the kitchen that had sandwiches, fruit and water, and to go up there whenever I needed to eat something. He flashed me a smile, kissed me on the cheek, and left.

Uncle Cal came over to my cubby as soon as Carlos left, and gave me a devious grin.

"Tank said it sounded like you two had a lot of fun last night," he said and kept up his grin, "I don't want to know if it's true or not, but I'll tell you this, That man has genuine interest in ya kiddo. Maybe _you_ can bring him into the civilized world."

He looked down at my feet, and laughed, "Why on earth don't you have shoes on?"

"Cause I hate them!" I said, half laughing, half defensive, "What's wrong with not having shoes?"

"Nothing, it's just funny," he said and laughed, "Hey, I gotta go back to work. I'll come get you for lunch, alright?"

I nodded, and when he left, I looked at my inbox on my desk. There were two files in it already, so I sat down to work. When I opened the files, I saw that they both were from this Rodriguez guy. I went through all of the steps that Carlos described, and realized that it would take a while for each search to complete itself.

_Great,_ I thought, _This is why it bored the last person to death._ Then an idea hit me. I raced back up to my apartment and grabbed my laptop, and brought it down to my cubby. I hooked it up to the internet jack, and started playing Chuzzle. Every so often I would peek at the other computer to check on how the search was going, and each time I was dismayed that it still wasn't finished. _At least I have my Chuzzle,_ I thought. And continued on with my game.

When the first search was finally done, I was pleased to have that out of the way, and began my second one. I decided it was time to switch games, and began playing solitaire. An oldie but a goodie.

Around lunch time, Uncle Cal came to my cubby, and burst out laughing at my genius multi-tasking.

"What on earth are you doing?" he asked still laughing his ass off.

"What does it look like? I'm running a boring search, and playing solitaire while waiting," I said, with my eyes still glued to my game, "Is it already lunch?"

"Yea, come on, I don't feel like pizza, so I was thinking Cluck-in-a-Bucket." he said, and I closed my game, did a quick check on my search, and headed up to my apartment to get my shoes.

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**Thanks for reading this! Please review and let me know how many of you are still with me. :)**


	13. Work, Work, Work

-- **E L E V E N** -- **Work, Work, Work** --

Okay, so there is no smut in this chapter. Carlos/Ranger isn't even in it much.

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When Uncle Cal and I got to Cluck-in-a-Bucket, I was both horrified and amused with the strong theme this place had. We walked up to the cash register, and ordered a combo to share. I decided that I was more amused than anything when I saw the uniforms these people had to wear. I felt grateful that I was wearing all black.

When our order was ready, Uncle Cal and I sat towards the back of the building and ate in near silence. I hadn't realized how hungry playing Chuzzle and Solitaire could make you. Or maybe it was the amazing sex I had last night and this morning.

I shrugged. Who knows?

The chicken was good, and I thought it topped my favorite chicken place back home, and I was just about to tell Uncle Cal that, when I saw him staring at someone in the line. He didn't look very happy. I turned my head to look at who caught his eye, but didn't even know who I was looking for.

"What's up Uncle Cal?" I asked, turning back to him and tilting my head slightly.

"Steph just walked in, and had the balls to actually make eye contact and smile," he replied, scowling down at his leftover chicken, "Come on, lets head out. Lunch is nearly over anyways."

He got up so fast that he was already halfway to the door before I had even grabbed my purse.

"What are we... Why are we.." I began when we had gotten into the car. "Why are we just leaving like that? We were there before she was, why not hold our ground and just finish our lunch! We still had plenty of chicken left dude!" I blurted out, a little annoyed that he would act like this over something that wasn't too big of a deal in my mind.

Okay, so maybe I was kinda pissed at this Stephanie chick for having done that to Carlos, but hey, that was all in the past, and nothing could change that. I was also pissed that I had to give up some really yummy chicken because she walked in the door.

Uncle Cal didn't answer me, so I sat through the rest of the ride back to the building in silence. I could feel that he wasn't happy, and it honestly made me nervous being in what seemed now to be a small vehicle with a large angry man.

When we pulled up to the building, he put his hand on mine before we got out and turned to speak to me.

"Listen kiddo, I could tell you were concerned about me being angry and in the car with you. You never have to worry about me lashing out at you in anger. You're my niece, I could never harm a hair on your head. Got it?" He said and smiled.

"Yea, I gotcha." I said and smiled in return.

We hopped out of the car and headed back up the office, and I saw 7 more files in my inbox on my desk.

"What the hell!? I was only gone for 45 minutes!" I blurted out.

I sighed and sat down at my desk, and finished up the file I had started before I left, began another one, Rodriguez again, and began resumed my game. I had no idea when I was going to get off work, so I picked up the phone and dialed Carlos's office.

"Ranger," his voice sounded gruff.

"Hey Carlos! It's me."

"Hey Ginny, whatcha need?" he said with a softer voice.

"I was just wondering what time I got off work, and I was also wondering who this Rodriguez guy was." I said and giggled at the end. Not highly professional, but what did I care?

He laughed a little, and said, "You can get off work around 4.30, and Rodriguez is just one of my men. How many files from him have you gotten today?" he was still laughing a little.

"Nine so far, I've got two done, and I'm working on the third. Well, I think they are all from him," I tucked the phone between my chin and shoulder and thumbed through the files in my box and saw that three were from Carlos, "Okay, well, six from him, three from you," I said.

"Well, divide your time between his files and the other files you get. I saw that you found a way to amuse yourself while running the searches," he said with a smile in his voice.

"Yup. It makes the job less boring," I replied, putting emphasis on the word boring.

"Why pink?" He asked referring to my laptop.

"Because I love pink!" I said, going into girl mode, "Plus it was either pink or this hideous green."

Carlos laughed and said I should get back to work. When I hung up, I had butterflies in my stomach, and a smile on my face. I set back to work, or should I say my game? Meh. Game works. At four all of my searches from Carlos were done, and I was waiting for my last search of the day to finish up, when I got a call on my cell phone.

The ring was that annoying default ring that every phone has, and it drove me nuts just listening to it for a short amount of time. I picked up my phone and saw that it was Carlos.

"Yup?" I said, smiling.

"Your new car is down in the garage. Give it a test drive after work, and I would also like you to go to the firing range to get used to your gun."

"Okay, no problem. I need to go to the grocery store anyways. I can't eat out every meal," I said and laughed, "You wanna come with me to show me how to get to the store?" I asked, raising my voice a little at the end showing that I wanted him to join me.

"I honestly would, but I got a skip to grab. Though I guess I could have you follow me to the store in your car."

"Sure. Where should I meet you then? In the garage or in your office?"

"Garage."

"Okay," I looked over at my 'search' computer and saw that it was already finished, "Hey, the last file I had planned on doing for the day is done, can I get off early?"

"Sure, but it's gonna cost you," Carlos said, I could hear a hint of a smile in his voice, "I'll let you know the price later tonight. Turn around by the way."

I did as he said, and saw him standing at the door. I hung up my phone, grabbed my stuff and sauntered over to him.

"Shall we then?" I asked, looking into his face.

"Yea, lets get this over with," he said and smiled.

I follwed him all the way to the store, loving the feeling of The Supra. It was black on black, with limo tinted windows, and the works going on inside. Leather seats, CD player, AC/Heater, everything. My yellow rental had been returned, and the things I had in there were placed in The Supra. At the store I picked up just the essentials. Beer, miscellaneous kittie items, toothbrush, chicken nuggets, milk, soda, chips, ranch, BBQ sauce and various foods for your everyday-basic cooking.

The drive back to the building was filled with my Billy Talent CD playing full blast, and my heart getting a nice massage from the bass this car gave out.

When I got back to the building, I brought all my stuff up to my apartment, put it away, and started cooking dinner. I called Uncle Cal and Tank and asked if they wanted to come over for dinner, and when they agreed, I more than doubled the amount I was making. I made my 'famous' chicken casserole and had it finished before they walked into the apartment.

"So, how was your first day at work?" Uncle Cal said teasingly,

"Fine, it was not as boring as it might have been, much thanks to my computer and Chuzzle." I said and giggled.

"I'm surprised you got away with that," Tank said, "The boss is definitely fond of ya." we all laughed, knowing how true that was, though I'm sure we all had different ideas as to what his fondness included.

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**Please review! I love hearing what you all think. It's my drug. :D**

**Much thanks goes to my honey for getting me hooked on Supras. And BTW, according to him, you can't just say Supra. You have to say THE Supra. **


	14. Surprise

-- **T W E L V E** -- **Surprise** --

**Things will get interesting here, but in a different way! I'm sorry I kept everyone waiting, I've been waking up before the sun and have been busy with housework and plain ole work.**

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The three of us were sitting in my little kitchen, drinking soda and talking, when there was a knock on my door.

When I opened my door, I was handed a package, and before I was able to say anything, the guy left. I simply shrugged, and walked back into the kitchen, looking at the box I had received. There was only a typed label addressed to me, with no return address. I didn't understand why I was getting a package, all of my things were not due for another day or two, and none of the boxes I had packed were this small.

When I sat at the table, Uncle Cal & Tank looked at me, and then at the package.

"No return address.." Tank said rather thoughtfully. Uncle Cal seemed to pick up on whatever thought Tank had, and nodded.

"I don't get why this was delivered. Everyone I know in town is in this building, and everyone else that I know would put an address on there."

I didn't know why, but my hands were a little shaky as I started to open it. _Silly and stupid me,_ I thought, _It's just a package without a label._

When I finally got it open, I dropped the box on the table at what I saw. Inside was my toothbrush that I lost, and numerous pictures of me. There were pictures of me in my hotel room, pictures of me getting into my rental, pictures of me at Shorty's, and even pictures taken through my window here.

"Holy Shit... Holy Shit... **Holy Shit**!" I yelled, my voice going up an octave and getting louder each time, "What the hell is this? Why? Who? How? How did they get these fucking pictures of me in my hotel and here?!" I didn't draw a breath between the shouting and random questionings. I got dizzy, and felt myself falling, _Shit,_ I thought, then there was nothing but blackness.

When I opened my eyes, I was laying flat on my back, with Tank leaning over me, and Uncle Cal on the phone.

"Yo, Cal, She's up, better get him down here anyways. He'll wanna see that shit." Tank said, and Uncle Cal let the person on the phone know. I assumed it was Carlos.

"Ugh.." I mumbled, "What the hell happened?" I said while sitting up, feeling a headache coming on. Christ it felt like someone punched me upside the head.

"You freaked and passed out kiddo. You knocked your head pretty good on the chair on your way down too." Tank said, Uncle Cal had finished his call and was looking at me. I could tell by the look on his face that he was worried.

"Oh, well, I'm fine now, I think. No need to worry." I tried standing up, but Tank put a hand on my shoulder, and shook his head no.

I sat back down, and heard my door open. Carlos came in, along with Bobby and Lester. Carlos motioned for Bobby to look over me, while he walked to my table and picked up the box.

I had never seen a man look so angry before. If looks could kill, Carlos's look would be the bomb that killed the whole planet.

Bobby looked up at Ranger and said I might have a small concussion.

He looked over at me and said, "I'd recommend that you take it easy, it's not a very big one, but you should play it safe."

My bony butt had long since started hurting from sitting on the tile, and I tried standing up one more time. Nearly everyone in the room rushed to help me up, but Uncle Cal and Carlos were the only ones who fully followed through. They walked me into the living room, and had me sit on the couch, while Bobby got me an ice pack, some Tylenol PM, and my soda.

"Thanks," I mumbled, my headache was full force by this time. I popped two Tylenol in my mouth, and took a gulp of my soda.

Uncle Cal sat down next to me on the couch, and Carlos sat on my wingback chair. I curled up against Uncle Cal, and he wrapped an arm around me. Carlos looked up at Bobby, Lester, and Tank, who looked like they didn't know what to do next.

"Take the package and see what you can figure out about it. If there are prints on any of the pictures or the toothbrush, run them. I want to know who this person is." The three men nodded at Carlos, Tank grabbed the box, and they left my apartment.

"Do you know who might have done this?" Uncle Cal said, while Carlos placed his elbows on the chair arms, and his head in his hands.

"No, I have no idea. Anyone who I know is either in this building, or wouldn't spy on me and steal my toothbrush." I said, starting to feel the Tylenol kicking in.

"Well, when did you loose your toothbrush?" Carlos asked, it must have been an odd question to ask, because how often do you care if your toothbrush is stolen?

"Uh, I noticed it was gone the day Uncle Cal and I went to my hotel room to pack my things."

"I'll see if Tank or Lester can get the tapes for the security cameras from the building."

"hrm, okay." I mumbled, and drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, I was still in Uncle Cal's arms, and he was watching football on my TV. I saw that it was San Francisco versus Seattle, and wondered who was winning.

"So far, Seattle is winning." he replied.

"Good. Matt Hasselback is a hottie." I giggled and sat up. My head was a little sore still, but it was manageable. I heard some talking in my kitchen, and decided to go see what was up. I knew Carlos was in there, and was counting on him to give me some answers, if there were any to be told yet.

"Yo," I said groggily when I entered the room, "Any news yet?" I saw Carlos, Tank, and Bobby sitting at my kitchen table.

"We got the tapes from the floor you were staying on, and Lester is going over them. There were no prints on the pictures or your toothbrush, and we figured it would be a waste of time to look for any on the box," Carlos said, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, my head isn't quite as sore. I'm just a little hungry." I rummaged around in my pantry, and pulled out some dried mango slices.

"Mangos? What are you, a parrot?" Tank joked.

"Do I copy what everyone says?" I asked, feeling up to joking around, "Do I have wings and a beak?" I smiled at him and giggled.

"No, I guess not." he said and laughed. Carlos and Bobby chuckled, and resumed talking about ways that someone could have gotten those pictures of me in the building.

"I would think it's an obvious answer, they found out what floor she was on, and went to the same level on the building across from us." Bobby said.

"True, but how did they know which floor she was on?" Carlos asked him, then looked up at me, "Have you gone through your purse and all of your things and noticed something that didn't belong?"

"Uh, no. I haven't been looking for anything. Should I check?" I asked, knowing that he thought a bug got planted on me somewhere.

"Yea, that would be a good idea," he replied thoughtfully, "Actually, give Bobby and Tank everything you had with you at the hotel. They can search through it and see if they can find any bugs. They can also check for prints on any if they find them."

"Okay." I said, and headed off to my room to grab my still unpacked travel bag and suitcase. My purse was already in the kitchen, and when I handed Tank and Bobby my things, they headed out.

"I'm going to have Cal stay with you for a while. Nobody has tried anything other than sending you that box, but I'd rather be safe than sorry." Carlos said, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head.

"Thanks," I said, putting my arms around his waist.

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**Okay, so please be patient with me as I write, because this whole story is based off of a dream I had. I'm adding stuff in, and taking things out, this taking a pretty long time, meaning the dream is becoming fuzzier and fuzzier. My muse just sits on my bed next to me and only gives me small crumbs now-a-days to write with. And I know putting Virginia in a sticky situation/possible harm is a little lame and trite, but come one, lol. I just HAD to add this into a story based of the Stephanie Plum novels. **


	15. The Last Stand

-- **T H I R T E E N**-- **The Last Stand** --

**Don't bash the chapter tittle. I didn't know what else to call it. LOL.

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**

It had been several hours since Carlos, Tank, Bobby, and Lester left my apartment, and I was still in shock. Uncle Cal and I were sitting on my couch watching Emeril and eating ice cream, but my normal comforts just weren't doing the trick. I needed a drink. No, not water or a soda, I needed **several** beers.

"Hey, I'm gonna grab a beer, or ten, do you want one?" I asked Uncle Cal.

"Sure, I'll take one. And you should put the limit on three tonight." he said without moving his eyes from the TV as I walked to the kitchen.

I opened my fridge and groaned. There were only two beers left. I brought them both out and plopped on the couch. God how I loved this couch.

"Here ya go, the last two beers," I said as I handed Uncle Cal his beer and opened mine. Apparently the guys all love Corona, but I'm a Heineken sort of gal. If they wanna drink my beer, they can deal.

About halfway through my beer, Uncle Cal's phone rang.

"Cal," he said, still not taking his eyes of the TV. I suspected that he liked my cooking shows, "Uh-huh, I figured that as well," there was a short pause where I heard Carlos on the other end, sounding pissed, "Yea, I'll let her know. Later boss."

Uncle Cal hung up his phone, and put it back on my coffee table. He took a sip of his beer, and turned to me.

"Ranger's on his way here. He found out a few things, and wants to tell you himself," he said and took another sip, "I think I'm going to need another beer, he's pretty pissed." He started getting up off the couch, when I decided to break it to him.

"We have the last two right here," I said, trying not to laugh, "Sorry." I failed on my efforts, and began laughing. I don't know why it was so funny, it was just one of those random things that makes you laugh I guess. After a short bit, I got myself back under control, and stopped laughing.

Uncle Cal just looked at me with a half scowl, half smile on his face, and at back down. I looked at him, and burst out laughing again.

I heard the door open, and turned to look, even though I knew who it was.

"Hey," I said, when I saw Carlos.

"Hay is for horses," he said and smiled, "Feeling better?"

"Yea, so what have you found out?" I asked, eager to hear who the hell was pissing around with me.

"You aren't going to believe this. We found a bug, and with that, some prints. We ran those through our system and came up with a Robert DeDoar. Guess where he works?" Carlos asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Robert DeBoar, Robert DeBoar," I muttered, trying to put a name to the face that I recognized, "Robert - Rob! Holy shit! he worked at the hotel I stayed at! He was that valet kid!" I said, my voice raising in volume and octave.

"Yea, but he isn't just a valet kid. His father is the hotel manager, and that gave him access to the keys to your room. I'm going over with a few of my guys over to talk to him when I'm done here. We'll figure out why he was bothering you."

" I wanna go." I said quickly with determination and force.

"No," both men said in unison.

"If he has it in his mind to harm you, you going to him will just make it easier for him. You are not going Ginny." Uncle Cal said, and Carlos nodded his approval.

"I'm going. Come on guys, I may be small, but I'm not weak."

"No. I don't give a shit if this guy was just playing spy on you, I won't risk a damn thing when it comes to you. I," he paused, "You won't be going." Carlos said.

"You what?" I asked, curious at what he had just cut off.

"Not now," he said.

"Fine. You can tell me when **I** get back." I said, and grabbed my jacket and keys, and left my apartment.

"Ginny!" I heard them call as I got to the elevator. I looked down the hall and saw them both running to the elevator, and I hurried the doors shut.

When I got to the garage, I heard the thundering down the stairs, and rushed to my car. I shoved the key into the ignition just as they got out of the stairwell doors, and drove out of the lot before they could reach me.

* * *

It was asskicking time, and I needed the right music for the moment. I shoved Rammstein into the player, and cranked it up. I knew my way to the hotel, and got there fairly quickly. I knew what I was going to do. And had no doubts that I could do it. As the hotel came into view, I felt my adrenaline rushing, and was glad to know that I still had my badass 'persona.' 

I drove to the valet booth, and saw Rob working. He walked up to my car, looking as punky and stupid as ever. He froze in his tracks when I stepped out of my car.

"Why the **fuck** did you steal my toothbrush? And why the hell did you take those pictures of me?" I shouted.

"Wha.. What.." he stammered, "How did you know it was me? What makes you think it was me?" he asked, clearly panicked.

"Don't trouble yourself with that. Now give me some answers, you dumbass." I was quieter now, but more my voice was deeper and it was fierce.

"Fine!" he shouted, "You wanna know? Because you treated me like **shit**! And you stuck your crazy, steroid filled Uncle on me that one day! That's why. I wanted to irk you, and maybe make you panic."

"Well, aren't we the mature one," I replied, still sounding fierce. "I'll tell you two things, "Grow up, and fuck off."

I turned to get into my car, when I heard him run at me and felt him punch my square in my back. I fell down on one knee, and knew that there would be no more Mrs. Nice-Lady. Without much thought, I wheeled up onto both feet, stood facing him, and gave him a kick right in the groin. When he was doubled over with the pain from that, I upper-cut him in the jaw, and sent him flying backwards. I stood there watching him curled up, and laying on the ground, moaning and nearly crying, when I heard several sets of footsteps running my way.

I turned and saw Carlos, Uncle Cal, and an older version of Rob running towards me. I could only assume that it was his father. The three men stopped not far away from me, and looked down at the mess known as Robert DeBoar.

"Holy Shit," Carlos said. Uncle Cal and Robs father just stood there looking at Rob with eyes as big as dinner plates.

"Didn't I tell you guys that I wasn't weak?" I asked, trying to sound innocent for some reason unknown to me.

"Well, yea Gin, we knew that too, but we didn't think you could beat the shit out of a guy like that! What the hell did you do to him?" Uncle Cal asked.

"Nothing much. Kicked him in the balls and punched him in the jaw is all." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well little lady, I'm amazed that someone was able to teach him a lesson. That son of mine has always been a problem. Harlend DeBoar," he said, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you. So, you aren't pissed or nothin that I beat the crap out of your son?" I asked, shaking hands with Harlend.

"Nope. I'm glad actually," with this, he turned to Rob, and said, "Get up and go home. Don't bother coming back to work here. Son or not, Your ass is fired."

Rob slowly got up, and half limped, half waddled away without a word. I guess he wasn't fond of the idea of having had the shit beat out of him by a girl.

* * *

As the three of us were in the elevator heading back to my apartment, both men kept looking at me. It started getting annoying, because they would look at me, then look at each other. 

"What!" I asked finally fed up with it.

"Nothing, just amazed that a tiny little thing like you could kick ass like that. He was not much shorter than me, and probably twice your size," Uncle Cal said, "Baffles me."

"Same here." Carlos added in.

"Well, when you grow up with all guy cousins, you learn a thing or two. Plus, playing soccer and baseball helps too." I said, beginning to laugh.

When we got back to my apartment, Uncle Cal grabbed his things, and said he was heading back to his place.

"Later," Carlos and I said in unison.

When Uncle Cal had left, Carlos looked over at me, and I at him.

"So," I said, "What was it that you decided not to tell me before I left?" I asked, hoping that he would remember.

"Hum?" He asked as he walked up to me, and wrapped his arms around my waist, "Oh, yea, that. Well, I'll have to explain something first. Up until I met you, I wasn't fond of the whole 'emotions' thing. It just didn't suit my lifestyle. I still don't think it does, but I'm starting to think I need to blend my emotions in a little more. I worry that if I show you that I care for you, you'll end up getting hurt, not by me, but by those who are against me. But I saw tonight that you can take care of yourself," he paused and sighed, "I'm hoping that it's true. Simply put though, I'm crazy about you, in a good way."

I smiled at his words, and wrapped my own arms around his shoulders.

"Ditto." I said, and pulled him into the bedroom.

* * *

**Ugh. Sorry this has taken ages!! I've been waking up before the dawn, and have had some crazy days, bloodthirsty shoes, and a boyfriend that I can't resist. LOL. Please read and review the final chapter! Thanks everyone!**

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Okay, so Ranger/Carlos might be acting a little OOC. I toned down what he said in my original version, and added some talking that seemed to ease in his emotions. If he is still OOC to you, I'm sorry, but deal with it.


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